Soothsayer's fitness journal

I was initially going have 'crunch move my "getting into shape" thread into this forum, but I realized that it really wouldn't work so well as one is a regular thread and this is a blog... the format just wouldn't be the same. The reason for the change is that the thread has evolved from its original purpose: it went from being a group discussion / challenge to a record keeping event. Comments are still accepted and welcome.

I am reposting the original thread, in its entirety, with some basic editing for visuals

{originally posted January 29 2012 by Soothsayer}

While having a phone conversation with shadowcrunch yesterday, I had an idea... and it revolved around what shadowcrunch had said.

You see, he has purchased a membership for a fitness center. Or he was thinking about it. Or something. I don't know, I hasn't really paying attention. Anyway, I then mentioned that I was preparing to get in shape by using simpler means.

Now that you know that background...

I propose a challenge, one that would help motivate each of us. We all want to lose weight and get in shape, right? But sometimes we need a bit of incentive. How does money sound?

For losing weight, we would have our start weight, and then our finish weight. Divide the finish weight by the start weight, and you will get a percentage; that's how much weight you lost. We cannot go by pounds, because let's face it, it'd be easier for a 300 pound person to lose 10 pounds than someone who weighs 190, right? So we'd have to go by the percentage., as a percentage keeps a nice ratio going, it doesn't change because a person was fatter than an other in the beginning... it keeps track of the ratio. 300 pound person finishes at 260 equals 86%, as would a 190 pound person finishing at 165. Fair enough, right?

Now then, what about getting into shape? Haven't figured out how to do that... would it be the narrowing of the gut? I personnally like that, as I have a big gut, but really, what is getting in shape? Losing waist? Increasing bicep diameter? We'll need to work out the kinks of this.

So now for the money thing...

Money gained would be in the amount of the percentage of weight lost. Huh? Let's take the above example of a 300 pound person. He finishes at 260... that would put him at 86%. 100 minus 86 equals 14, OR he lost 14% of his initial weight. If that person wins, he would then get $14 from each of the other participants.

How's that sound? The more people we have in this, the better, but it really isn't needed. Likewise, the monetary amount could be adjusted so that the loser pays out twice as much, instead of doing a diollar per pound, but let's be realistic about it. All of us on here have families, we can't blow wads of money on a wager, so I feel a single dollar / pound would suffice. It may not be a lot of money, but this really isn't about the money.

Of course, we'll need a start date / finish date. The start date should be one where we give all people a chance to join in on this if they want (but then again, there's only two of us who really come on here, so the start could be fairly early). Finish date should be realistic, but at the same time nothing too drawn out, ie, not a year from now; that'd let to procrastination. OR we could do this on a month-to-month basis! Ooo, I like that idea: we do this for every month! Follow me on this!

Let's say start date is Feb 1st. The end would then be Feb 29th. Calculate percentage lost, blah blah blah, we have a winner. March 1st would start off a new competition, to end March whatever it is. That way, if people want to join in, they can (but only on the first on the month). If people want to stop, they can (but at the end of the month they are currently in). Beginning weight would be set on the first of the month, so you can't have the 300 pound guy from month 1 say he was 300 pounds after he lost 50, know what I mean?

I like that. I like that a lot.

...

Now that my train of thought has run its course, the next post is the OFFICIAL rules and times for this challenge.

{posted same day by Soothsayer}

Soothsayer's Weight Loss Challenge

1. The challenge begins on the first of every month; the first challenge starts on February 1st 2012.

2. The challenge ends on the last date of the month; the first challenge ends on February 29, 2012.

3. The challenge begins anew on the first of the next month, and repeats; when February ends, March's challenge begins

4. On the first of the month, contestants and weights should be posted on this thread. This will be done on the honor system! Be honest!

5. On the last day of the month, the contestants should post their weight, whether they have lost or not. Again, this is on the honor system!

6. Percentages will be determined by dividing the final weight by the start weight. Take that number and deduct it from 100, and that will show the percentage of weight lost.300 pounds (start)260 pounds (finish)86... 100 minus 86 equals 1414 is the percentage of weight lost

This number will be used to determine the winner.

7. Winners will be paid a cash amount to equal a dollar per pound lost, not percentage lost, to be paid by the loser(s) of that month's challenge.300 pounds (start)260 pounds (finish)40 pounds lost equals a win of $40.

...

The first challenge begins on February 1st of 2012.

{posted on January 29 2012 by VaderXanth}

I'm all for this challenge. However, one thing that one must consider is this..

I too want to lose weight, but also gain muscle mass. I want to lose the gut, but I want to gain upper body strength. How would we incorporate weight loss if we are at the same time gaining muscle weight?

{posted on January 29 2012 by LadyLiterature}

I'd be in on this if it wasn't for the fact that NO woman would want to post her weight. Granted yes I have known three of you for half my life but egads man!

I'll have to think on this one!

{posted on January 29 2012 by Soothsayer}

Muscle mass would be a tricky one. What do we measure? We don't have access to a water tank that measures displacement. Muscle structure is different between men and women, so we can't very well measure chest and biceps... well, we could, but I don't want others to feel bad by my saying I have a 56 inch chest (and that's even before the fat).

If anyone can come up with something, that'd be great. I'm open for suggestions.

{posted January 30 2012 by Shadowcrunch}

Ow ow ow ow....

{posted January 30 2012 by Soothsayer}

Lady Lit... I can understand your hesitation. Since this is all being done on an honor system, then I suppose we could trust you to be honest about it. Or tell your hubby. Don't worry about posting it online, even though none of us knows you, since you claim to be from Alaska and all that.

Muscle mass... I will research this while at work this afternoon / evening. I'm thinking a measurement of the waist might need to be in order, along with neck... I recall having to do this while in the military, that there's a specific kind of ratio involved. Should have an answer posted tonight, tomorrow sometime.

{posted January 31 2012 by Soothsayer}

Okay, I haven't checked how to check muscle mass versus fat weight, I'll do that tomorrow. In the mean time, whether we have other people participating as of tomorrow or not, I still am. Don't care if I am doing this by myself or not.

Went and bought a digital scale from Wal*Mart yesterday, can accurately measure up to 350 pounds, so you know it's got to be good! Anyway, to make this official, I weigh in at

*drum roll*

296.8 pounds. This is with clothes on, mind you. Blue jeans, shirt. This will be my entry weight, since when I weigh myself, I'll probably be wearing the same thing.

In the event that muscle mass ever becomes a factor, I submit these following measurements, which may be off since I'm doing this by myself:

Now, I can understand my chest shrinking (used to be in the low 50s): I've heard that smoking a lot actually expands your chest, something to do with your lungs trying to compensate... that's why coal miners of those who worked at bad factories had barrel chests. Anyway, last time I had my chest measured was when I was smoking three packs of cigarettes a day, so it stands to reason that it would go back down to normal.

However, my waist kind of throws me; I wear 44/46 (in waist) pants, and they aren't tight. Who knows? Not me.

...

Just found this website, might be helpful. You just plug in your measurements, and it gives you a calculation based on what you said. For instance, with me, this is what it states

I might as well continue on this thread... gives me a sense of motivation seeing everything in print. With that said, I am reporting on my weight loss (or gain) for the month of February.

Wearing the same clothing I wore for the above post, I am happy to report that I weighed in at...

(drum roll)

285.6 pounds!

That's 11.2 pounds of fat gone (3.7% of original weight). And I didn't do to much to do it. Here is what I did: went from sucking on hard candy while I smoke my pipe to sugar-free cough drops, stopped drinking canned beverages, maybe about one fountain drink from the gas station a week (versus the one or two a day I used to do), and an effort to eat MORE meals a day (albiet smaller ones) than one large meal at the end of the day.

There are still some things I can do to improve my eating habits, and I will be starting that tomorrow. Maybe I'll start getting more physical as well, but I'm mainly trying to move in stages here; the first couple steps are just trying to get me into a better habit as far as my intake goes.

Tomorrow I will take my physical measurements and post them. Yes, that means I am continuing this challenge for the month of March.

No other takers yet?

{posted August 23, 2013 by VaderXanth}

So, over a year has passed... Where are we all now??

{posted August 26, 2013 by Soothsayer}

I've pretty much stopped doing this, or at least posting about it. Kind of made little sense, continuing posting something without response. I mean, well, like you noticed... it's been over a year, so why continue it, you know? But, ironically, I was actually planning on digging this up.

But, to answer your question, I had decided to go in a different direction by taking little steps. First was to get into the habit and routine of taking vitamins and supplements on a daily basis. Second was to quit smoking. Third was to drastically cut back my soda intake. Fourth was to walk the stairs instead of taking the elevator where I work (I can now go up all six flights without dying). Fifth was to cut my food intact by half. I figure by doing things like this, one step at a time (each step was one month), my body doesn't go into shock (as it were); I didn't want to do all of this at once as my body was already accustomed to things.

The next thing I'll be doing will work on two different levels: I'll be hopefully making a bicycle powered generator. This will allow me to work on my cardio (more important than weight loss) while at the same time saves money.

*A bicycle generator is essentially a bike with the rear tire off; a belt going from the rear rim to an alternator; alternator feeds an AC/DC converter; a power trip plugs into the converter. You can charge up numerous devices while at the same time playing a portable DVD player. Think about it: beside charging your devices, you could remove the battery from a PS3 controller and hook it up to the power strip (with modification)... exercise so you can play!

{posted January 23 2013 by Soothsayer}

Okay, decided to continue this thread... keeping it as a "journal" more or less. I figure, if I work on this then it may make me more motivated to do that.

Looking back, I completely forgot about the bicycle generator. May have to check into that again. I've been saving my money for a four day excursion to Devil's Lake this summer, but I think, if the price is right, I can afford this. I've already got the weight bench set up in the basement, along with my old Dell computer that runs on XP (15 years old, but it still plays Pandora, Youtube and Netflix with no problems) to keep my entertained... so why not a bike? AND, if anyone you know has any of the components I need (that they aren't using anymore), I'd be happy to take them off their hands. Even pay for the parts, too!

Okay, let's see... where am I now? Back in December, first week of December actually, I quit drinking soda. For the most part. Went two / three weeks without soda, but then started to drink one soda during my lunch breaks. Yeah, it's technically cheating, but I did cut back by a lot. Now, I only have a soda maybe, maybe, two or three times a week. Working on it, trying to make it all go away. Supplemented my soda intact with bottled non-soda drinks, such as Fuze (mixed berry or sweet tea), Hi C Fruit Punch, or Gatorade.

Has this helped at all? Yes, kind of. The digital scale I bought from Wal*Mart a long time ago wouldn't register my weight anymore; I was too heavy. I have no idea what the maximum weight allowance on that scale is, so don't ask... I just know I was over the limit. Weighed myself a couple weeks ago, and lo and behold, it registered my weight! I'm still way beyond my ideal weight (by a hundred pounds), but the thing is, cutting back / removing soda has started to have an impact.

Now, I am going forward with my next phase: drinking nothing but water and unsweetened tea that you brew yourself. Yes yes, I've become a tea bagger, screw you. By taking things in planned steps, I'm reducing system shock or withdrawals. Haven't experienced headaches or other common symptoms from my caffeine reduction, so now I can move on to the sugar reduction. Normally, I'd have gone on the water / tea thing in February, but I'm planning on reducing or eliminating something else at that time: my lunch time dependency on fast food. I'm actually going to start that earlier, like maybe today... purposefully left my wallet at home so I can't go out (have a couple bucks on me to buy popcorn). They say that it takes you doing something 28 days in order to become a habit, so we'll just have to wait and see.

This then brings us to March. I've got nothing planned for March, just a continuation of what I am already doing or working on. I want to see how much weight I can lose, without hurting myself, before I start my next phase. The first phase was quitting smoking; as I knew eating habits would increase during this time frame, I really didn't want to impede that (as I didn't want to smoke again). Second phase, the current one, is calorie reduction; buh-bye sodas and bottled drinks, reduce fast food.

April I begin the third phase: to do general exercises on a regular and increasing basis. I'm not just talking about going for brisk walks or bicycling, either. During the months of April, May and June, I'll be attempting a boot camp type exercise / fitness plan.

There is a goal to this, besides weight loss. I mentioned earlier my trip to Devil's Lake. I'll be going in late July, and I want to be able to hike to the top of the bluffs. That is my goal, to take in that scenery, knowing that I was able to make it without dying. Sure, there's the fact that I haven't seen my, err, myself in years, there's the fact that I find it damn near difficult to find pants that fit (like my height doesn't help)... but those are basic goals. Where's the reward?

I doubt very highly that I'm going to be able to lose 100 pounds in six months... but 30? 50? That seems more attainable, especially considering that most of my problem is calorie intake.

So there you have it, an updated and complete phase schedule. Methinks it is now time to rename this thread...

As an update... the scale I've been using, the Health O Meter from Wal*Mart, is a piece of crap. I knew this before, but it wasn't until the past 24 hours did I realize just how much of a piece of crap it is.

The scale itself, as mentioned earlier, has a weight limit. According to Wal*Mart's product description, that limit is 330 pounds. Remember when I said it wouldn't weigh me anymore? That'd do it. That was the big push to start this diet, of eliminating sugary drinks. Couple weeks ago, a weighed myself again, with a result of 310 pounds. Not bad! Certainly didn't sound right, losing 20 pounds in one month... weighed myself yesterday, and it read 304.6 pounds; that sounded more realistic. I can see a six pound weight loss in two weeks.

But today? 309.8. What, a five pound gain? In one day?! Went back to the scale a couple minutes later... 308.4. I somehow lost a pound simply by washing a few dishes. And now? *pause as I go to the scale*... 308.8. *eye twitch*

Did some checking online, and found out that this scale is junk. If I'm going to be doing this, I'm going to need a more reliable scale.

Adjusting to plain tea, no sugar or cream, has gone better than what I would have thought.

The first day was a pain, not because of the no sugar thing, but because all the teas I tried tasted the same. The second day was little different; taste was the same. The only thing I noted, and I believe that this is pretty significant, was that I slept better. In fact, I woke an hour before my alarm clock, wide awake and actually refreshed (morning of second day). For the first two days, I was actually physically exhausted, but my mind was racing; it was almost like being overly tired. The third day I was just about normal.

I do believe that that had been a detoxing moment, as my body was shrugging off the effects of sugar and or caffeine. And, by Sunday (day four), I was drinking tea like nothing.

I am greatly surprised by the actual taste of tea! Over the course of these past few days, I've tried a wide variety of tea, from black teas all the way to herbal. Once you gain a taste for tea, it isn't too bad... some Earl Grey in the morning (black tea, contains some caffeine, 30-60 mg as compared to coffee which has 100 - 120 mg), some mint in the mid day (herbal tea, zero caffeine) with lunch, some mint or orange and spice in the afternoon (herbal tea, no caffeine), and then chamomile in the evening (herbal tea, no caffeine). Every so often I'll mix some green tea in there somewhere, or toss in some lemon for a change. All tea, when drunk with no sugar or cream, has no calories... and some tea, when drunk before bed, promotes sound sleep and continues digestion, thus burning more calories. I'll be trying other flavors when these two boxes run out, just to see what's out there.

I hate to say it because it makes for a really bad comparison, but drinking tea is a lot like pipe tobacco. I don't miss the nicotine or have the cravings, and there's a wide variety of tastes to choose from.

Along with the drinking of tea, I've been avoiding fast food, or at least trying to. Been doing such for a couple weeks now as a trial run. Anyway, for lunch, I've been either having a bag of popcorn, some wheat thins / triskets, or trail mix... except for on the weekend when I'm home, as it's harder to maintain a diet when you're surrounded by others who are eating. But even then, there's been a strong conscious effort to eat less, so it's actually worked (so far). The tea, if I drink it in the amounts I'm supposed to, has been filling, even though mentally I'm still hungry. Suppers have still been suppers, and the first couple days I probably ate more than normal, but not by much... and now, I find myself starting to eat less.

Monday I definitely screwed up: I went to Burger King for lunch and ordered some chicken nuggets. I thought why not, nuggets are made from white meat, right? I have no idea if it was because of the cooking oil used or because I've been avoiding fast food, or because my body had detoxed (as it were), but I was really ill that afternoon.

So now, to make this longer than thought post come to an end, I've decided to up my time frame. As of tomorrow, I'm done with fast food completely. Not only that, but there's going to be a conscious effort to eat in gradually moderated proportions. For the rest of the week, I'll be having iceberg salad mixed with some tomatoes and about a third cup of chicken breast. Granted, this is more food than a bag of popcorn, but it does me no good getting home hungry. The ingredients: a bag of chicken tenderloins ($7 Aldi's, or about 58 cents a tenderloin), a bag of iceberg salad ($1.80, Piggly Wiggly), one roma tomato (99 cents, Piggly Wiggly). For these three meals, the total comes to about $4.53, or about $1.50 a lunch. Loosing weight, and saving money!

That's a nice side effect of this: the money. I normally spent about $6 a day for lunch. Add a soda or two at $1.25 each, times five days, and that comes out to $42.50 a week. That's a lot. A LOT. It's nice I have the money for that, I suppose, but it's even nicer being able to pocket it for something else.

At work, whenever I leave my desk, I don a sports jacket / blazer. When I was sizing myself for it, I went to JC Pennies and tried on different jackets to get the right size (work provided it). The one I picked just fit, with no room for error; that size looked the best, as it did match with my chest.

over the year or so that I've been here, I know I picked up a couple extra pounds, I won't lie. Got to the point where I would have to suck my gut in a little bit, or else the jacket would be tight. Not tight tight, just... tighter.

But now? Now it fits slightly looser than when I first got it. Not much mind you, just enough to where I would notice. No one else may note the difference, and my crappy ass scale might not note the difference, but I do... and really, this is probably the biggest ego boost ever. All over (maybe) a half inch reduction, and inch at the most, just enough to make a fitting difference.

Bored at work, so I figured I'd make a quick post on the past week, seeing as how this marks the first full week of no sugared drinks or fast food, and the amount of calories I've not consumed while at work / driving to and from.

On a usual day, I would have had one 20oz bottle of soda, although I was working on cutting them out... so let's say half a bottle. Either Pepsi or Dr Pepper. 250 calories per bottle for each, so 125 calories a day from that.

For lunch, more often than not I would go to Taco Bell. I'd try to mix it up between the Bell and Subway depending on what the $5 sub selection was. At Taco Bell, the "usual" was two Bean Burritos with a 5 Layer Burrito, or two 5 Layers and one Bean Burrito. Sometimes I'd get the Black Bean Burritos instead of the Bean. Lunch would usually come with an extra large Pepsi.

Bean Burrito, 370 calories

5 Layer Burrito, 510 calories

Black Bean Burrito, 370 calories

Extra Large Pepsi, 500 calories

Damn that's a lot. Okay, let's see... so then, on average, that comes out to about 1600 calories a day for lunch alone. As a daily total average of 1725, that equals to .49 pounds (converted). No wonder I was getting a tad soft in the middle! Don't know how exactly this all calculates into weight loss, but I'm assuming that since there is a calorie reduction, then that'd equate to a weight loss (just don't know the formula). Certainly, I wasn't putting on half a pound a day, nor could it be said that I am losing half a pound a day, but this does help.

What I've been eating instead: 1/3 cup chicken breast (73 calories), Fresh Express iceberg salad kit (20 calories), and tea (zero calories). Toss in a handful of trail mix, but I don't know the per serving numbers for that (dollar store brand). Oh, and diet ranch dressing; don't know how much the count is for that either, as I know I'm not doing proper servings of that. Looks like 100 calories plus. Even if I triple that (for trail mix and ranch, which I doubt), that's still a hell of a lot better than the 1700+ from before.

Whatever happens with this fitness thing of mine, I am NOT going to become a calorie counter, lord no. I just did this just to see. I have noticed that my appetite is shrinking, probably because of all the tea I'm drinking (four or five mugs of the stuff before lunch). Even at home. Sure, I'll still eat what would be considered a large portioned meal, but believe me, I'm not eating as much, nor am I snacking throughout the night. Tomorrow's going to be a test though; Gail's going to be at work, I have extra money and so want to do some geek shopping... and I LOVE Arby's fish sandwiches. Nom nom nom.

Just found something that might prove useful; a calorie maintenance calculator. I put my information in, and if I consume at the most 2500 calories a day, I'd be losing close to a pound a week, simply by doing nothing. 2000 calories, 1.5 pounds a week. Looks like my goal to lose 30 - 50 pounds by end of July would work after all Just don't want to cut back too much on the calories, or else the body will think it's starving and actually try to store more food as fat.

From this point on out, I'll just be making a comment or whatever about every week or so; every week to keep track of my weight, the "or so" portion if anything significant occurs. With that said...

Not knowing what my actual initial weight was, all I can go by is what I recorded off of the digital scale, the 309.8. Again, I don't know how accurate that was; now that I think about it, I do have weights in the basement... why not test it? Anyway, that's the number I'll have to base everything off of.

I went to that calculator mentioned above (losertown) and calculated how many calories my diet would need to consist of in order to maintain my weight... roughly 3100. With that, I then subtracted my daily lunch intake (1725) and factored in the new lunch intact. With that as a reference point, let's say 1675, the calculator determined that by the end of July, with no exercise at all, I should weigh roughly 255 pounds. That is, I believe, a 2 or 3 pound reduction each week. With light exercise (whatever that is), I should be at 238 pounds.

I'm here to say that, as of this past Saturday (the day I'll be weighing myself and recording the information), I weighed in at about 305 pounds. Not wanting to rely on the digital scale, I bought a dial scale; ironic thing is, after my weigh in, I stepped onto the digital, and it read 305.6.

Anyway, in just over a week, I've lost about four pounds. Not bad, not bad. Knowing that there will be both good and bad weeks, I know I won't lose that much every week... but it's a good start.

Here's a nice weekly update for you... I'm now under 300 pounds. Not by much, as I'm at 298. So, in two weeks I've lost ten pounds. Holy shit! Any guesses as to what I'll be next Saturday? According to the journal I'm keeping, next week I should be at 307 (in keeping with the 2-3 pounds a week reduction). I've pretty much blown that out of the water.

There was something else I was going to say, but I can't remember what. Oh well.

Been trying to remember what I was going to add to the last post, but I still can't think of it. Must not have been important.

Trying to think of what my next "milestone" should be. Breaking 300 was a big one, but right now I'm thinking that the next should be what my weight was when I started this wacky thread... but an estimated 296 is awfully close to what I am now. Perhaps the 285 mentioned as a follow-up of the original post? You know, break my previous record?

According to the journal, I shouldn't be close to that weight until the end of March (284.9 pounds). I'm betting I can get to that weight well before then... keep in mind, this month I'm only supposed to be reducing my calorie intake and supplementing tea for sugared drinks, I don't really begin to exercise until March. I'll probably start before that, but at the same time, I am trying to maintain the different stages.

Okay, a clothing note: pants are a little more comfortable, and I am now on the second-to-last hole on my belt; note that the last hole was one that I had punched through probably about the time I got it, which was late summer 2006. I know this because it is a security company issued belt (has company logo stamped on it), and I worked for that particular company when I was at the slaughter house on Webster Avenue in Green Bay.

Maybe that should be my next milestone... when I hit that last hole...

This week's total is more along the lines of what the tracker says I should be at; I only lost about 2, three pounds, coming in at 296. Sadly, I don't think this was a good week, in that I ate at Hardee's the Sunday prior, and the wife and I had take out pizza and cheesy breadsticks last night (not to mention the fact that I downed a full bottle of wine, yummy yummy wine). This coming week will make weight loss interesting.

On a different note, I've begun to notice a physical change. Lying down in bed, I've noticed my gut isn't as high as what it was... and, even better, I've noticeably slimmed down on the sides. Not enough to do a before and after picture, but enough to wear I notice. Also, the mrs says that my face has slimmed.

Getting better with the eating as well. I'm not really hungry anymore after eating a salad, and that tides me over for the entire day. That is, until I get home and eat like normal... which I shouldn't. Have to work on that. Regarding food, if you are into rice cakes, may I suggest the white cheddar rice cakes? Oh my gawd, those are great! Oh, and green tea; may taste like the liquid that pours out of a can of spinach, but it is very filling, and apparently green tea helps increase your metabolism.

So yeah, 296. I shouldn't be at that mark until mid-March, but at least my body is on track. Looking forward to my next phase or step or whatever you call it.

Morning! This week, I am between 290 and 291. Kind of hard to tell, as the 10th line on the scale is about two times thicker than the normal lines, and the needle was right there. I originally believed that I would realistically lose thirty to fifty by mid July, using my trip to Devil's Lake as the finish line; that would have meant losing four to seven pounds a month. At the rate I'm going, with the loss of roughly four pounds a week, I could be looking at 202 pounds by the finish. I don't see that happening because that seems more like a dream, but that would be awesome.

I am experiencing a new side effect, one that is really irritating. My underwear doesn't fit. Oh, the waistband still fits; luckily, that was an elastic band, 42-44... it's the leg holes that are all loose and stretched out. Also, my belly doesn't peek out from under some of my shirts anymore.

...

Last night I was making supper. Chicken Parmesan, some Betty Crocker noodle packet, and peas. Anyway, I was looking at the servings / calorie count, and I realized I could eat the whole thing, everything that was cooked, and still be under the 1500-2000 daily calorie intake thingy, even counting the salad I had for lunch. For some reason, I doubt the people responsible for the DCI meant for it to be consumed all at once, in one sitting.

Today's account is brought to you by the number 12 and the letters N and S.

I thought I had a bad week. Steve and I had Figaro's pizza last Saturday, then Gail went and bought Figaro's for supper on Thursday, not to mention that the family wanted Taco Bell for dinner on Tuesday and I had a moment of weakness and consumed 3/4 a bag of cheesy puffs.

Surprisingly, I still managed to lose weight. Seems my eating a "normal" dinner is still effective... even though I should start cutting back on that.

So, today I weighed myself and was greatly surprised to see the scale register 286! I'm back to what I was at damn near two years ago, exactly.

With this being the start of a new month, I have to go to the next step or phase of my diet plan: exercise. Don't know what I'm going to do yet, probably the whole tiered boot camp thing. I'll figure something out. Just wish it was warming so I could go walking / jogging... definitely need to work on my cardio.

Thought of a good way to curb my eating habits in the afternoon and evening. Quite simple, really. I've doubled the size of my lunch (without doubling the calorie intake) hoping that that will make me less hungry later in the day. Additionally, even though I haven't done this yet, I'll see about adding a small salad to my suppers instead of taking a double or triple portion as normal.

Doubling the salad was easy. Still using the same portion of lettuce (from the Fresh Express salad bags, 15 calories), but now I've added about the same amount of spinach (Fresh Express bag, 5 calories). Along with the small Roma Tomato, I've added cucumber (11 and 4 calories, respectively). Still adding a third cup of diced chicken or ham (70 and 60 calories, respectively). Add to that fat free Ranch dressing (40 calories per serving, probably taking two or three), and I'm at 220 calories, at the most, for lunch. Only increased the lunch intake by 10 to 50 calories, depending on dressing, but the size has doubled. Not bad, not bad.

My belt's getting looser. Remember how I said that the last belt hole would be my next milestone? Getting close! I can pull the belt and hook it to that last hole, no problem, but it's a little tight yet, not much "give", whereas the second to last hole give me about an inch of give. I could honestly say that the belt is at the last hole, but it wouldn't be right. Irregardless, I'm at the same weight I was two years ago, with the belt saying my waste is what it was five and a half years ago. What I should do is test this, see if I can fit in those pants from 2006 (if I still have them, I might not).

...

I noticed up above that I wasn't going to start exercising until April. That was probably for the warm weather to kick in. If anything, I'll just start working on sit-ups to help speed along the gut reduction and continue walking up the stairs here at work for the cardio. I should really start lifting weights... perhaps tomorrow?

Stand at (or weigh at) 282.5 today. Slight loss from last week, I know, but a loss is a loss. It could still be from what I ate the week prior, but then again it might not. Wait, what am I saying? Looking back, this is still a four pound loss, so not too bad after all.

Pants have a loose feel now, even with the belt set at the second to last hole. I'm think next weekend might be it, time for a new belt. Who'd have thought belt shopping would be something to look forward to?

Definitely getting fuller with less when it comes to supper; don't know if it's because I increased the size of my lunch salad. I'm pretty much trying to eat "a lot" so my body doesn't go into famine mode (when your body saves everything being eating because it thinks you're starving), but that's getting harder to do. Take last night for example: made myself a small casserole kind of thing. Just a cup of precooked rice, a cup of diced ham, one can of french cut green beans and a can of condensed cream of mushroom soup (leave it condensed)... roughly 1000 calories. Tasted good, ate it all, but that was a lot to eat, was stuffed all night.

As of next week, I'm removing the diced ham or chicken from my lunch salads. This is only to save money, and also because I eat a lot of meat when I get home for supper. Anyway, to mix things up, my salads will now consist of lettuce, spinach, pickle slices, and banana pepper slices, oh and of course fat free ranch. This will put the salad calorie value at about 60 calories, and give me the sweet taste I've been craving (in the pickles and peppers). Oh, and just for a change, a bottle of mandarin orange flavored water from Wal*Mart (zero calories, 65 cents). More sweety goodness!

Picked up a treadmill yesterday. Yeah, I know, why bother with a treadmill when I can just go outside? Weather not withstanding, there is one factor with the treadmill I like that just can't be achieved from normal walking / running, and that is timed distances. I want to be able to pace myself, to set planned goals, so that I can achieve the end result. With the treadmill, I can program how far I want to run/walk and the amount of time in which I want to do it; this makes planning and utilizing a training program so much easier.

In an effort to get back into shape, the standards I want would fall between that required of the military and police. I went to school for it, I've been training for it, and by gawd, it would be nice to actually get a job in that field (although, truth be told, I really can't complain about what I'm doing now either). Even if I don't get employment within that field, at least I would have the satisfaction in knowing I could perform the job.

That's the main reason. A secondary reason for this is simply to get back into shape. Not doing too badly so far, what with my losing on average four pounds a week... and that's by doing nothing. Drinking tea has become routine, so has drinking flavored water. The daily salads are okay, although I'm still learning with that... case in point: prepackaging my salads for the week on Sunday is nice and everything, but I learned this week that you really shouldn't prepackage pickled items in advance like this; lettuce and spinach leaves tend to get really soggy. My evening meal and munching has been becoming more manageable, although there are a few times where I may go nuts.

So yeah, there's the update. Oh, before I forget, how I'll be incorporating the treadmill into my program.

Printed up a couple training programs off of About.com: Four-Week Beginner Training Program to Run One Mile and Beginner Training Program to Run Two Miles. Both of them use a gradual step-up program (slight increase of distance each day) every other day, with the day off between runs for rest or cross training. That's perfect since I'd be wanting to do weight training as well. I've also printed up How to Prepare for the 2 Mile Army Run off of Military.com's website.

And hey, if worse comes to worse, I can always wire up the treadmill to be a human powered generator

{EDIT}

Here's the physical requirements for being a Correction's Officer. It isn't much, which is rather sad, all things considered. When I went for this a couple years back, I passed the written test, the question session with the board of examiners, and even (surprisingly) the preliminary physical screening; I say surprisingly simply for the fact that I was still heavily smoking the pipe and my heart rate wouldn't go down after the treadmill test (12 degree incline, ten minutes at a really fast not-quite-but-almost-a-jog walk). I did the push-ups and sit-ups without problem, and only missed the run by a minute. See? Now I've quit smoking for almost a year now, so my lungs have had some time to improve. I'm losing weight to help with the heart rate, and now I'm getting physically fit. By time the next testing session comes around, I should be good to go.

About 280 this week. Things seem to be slowing down, which I assume is to be expected. Next week's total will determine if my body is adjusting to the diet or not. I did kind of cheat a little bit this week: shamrock shake, a couple candy bars, a lot of chocolate milk. I doubt those had any real significant impact on my week's total, but man did they taste good.

Adjusting my lunch salad again. If I do include pickles, I'll make sure to put them in a separate bag and add them only before consuming; soggy lettuce bad (see above post). When my bottle of ranch is complete, I'll switch to something like Italian dressing as it has a hell of a lot less calories.

Need to probably drink more. I was real gung-ho with the tea when I started, drinking 8-10 mugs a day, but now I'm down to two or three. No where near enough to flush stuff out of the body, nor is it enough to aid or increase digestion. And even though I've been better this week with it, I still have to make a conscious effort to eat less when I get home, or grab something to drink when I'm hungry.

Okay, trying something new. I've heard or read or something that if you keep track of what you eat, you'll not only see what it is you eat throughout the day, but it'll also help you in balancing your diet or intake. With that in mind, I'm going to change things up a little bit with this weekly updating of mine.

In order to better see what it is I am doing, I will be creating a new post in the beginning of each week instead of the ending. These posts will have several edits within them to record the daily intake amounts, and a final update to track the weight.

Oh, a quick belt update: bought a new belt this weekend. Found out that when it comes to belts, you're supposed to buy one that is one size larger than your pants size (so if you're a 38, you'll need a 40 belt). The belt I bought is a 44, but I am not a 42, more like a 43. Anyway, after comparing the new belt with the old, I noticed that I've gone down three holes, or rather I lost three inches from my waist. I'm still wearing the same pants size... I'm just wearing them higher now, just above or at the hip bones. In other words, my pants are getting shorter. That's no big deal right now, seeing as how I still have my old pants.

total: 1601 calories. Intake-wise, that's a lot better, but I still have to laugh that I'm consuming an entire day's worth of calories within a three hour period. Now that I think about it, I should probably start drinking green tea in the evening as it helps with metabolism. I also know that I should probably space the food intake throughout the day, but let's be real here... that would mean I'd have to wake up a lot earlier in the morning, instead of my normal 30 minutes before I have to be out the door routine. I'm not too worried, as everything I've been reading says that you should maintain between 1500 - 1800 calories a day, and that your body naturally consumes 1500 calories a day just from doing nothing except existing.

total: 1428 calories (so far, evening isn't quite done yet). A little low on the calorie count; I should eat one of my rice cakes (or two) to get it up to 1500. We'll just have to see by evening if I'm even hungry or not, which right now (8:45p) I'm not. {edit} new total: 1718 cal.

total: 1850.5 calories. A little much (maybe), but in the scope of things not too bad, I suppose. Averaging 1689 per day, which is where I'm supposed to be anyway (according to this diet that I made up myself). Already seeing patterns, which isn't too surprising. Eating better, and the snacking isn't too bad, more like a satisfying craving thing. Saturday's going to be a kicker, seeing as how I have a tendency to go out...

Friday March 21

Last edited by soothsayer on Fri Mar 21, 2014 9:43 am; edited 10 times in total

On a note about the chocolate milk. Once you start your exercising chocolate milk is actually really good for you after the session. My sister and many of her friends are avid runners and all have a glass (usually more that 8 ounces) after a run. I don't remember what it is suppose to help with but do know it is good.

Finally decided to see just how much "a mug" holds. Even though it really doesn't matter, seeing as how the calories contained are the same no matter what size it is (zero), I thought it best so that I could alleviate Gail's concern over my developing kidney stones.

The mug I use at home holds just under two cups of water. This equals 16 ounces of water. Seeing as how one tea bag is supposed to be used for one cup, I think I'm doing pretty good. Sure, tea consumption increases the chance of kidney stones, but my reasoning shows that, for every cup of tea I'm drinking, I'm also drinking a cup of water. It balances out. Now then, the mug I use at work holds... hold on a minute, let me finish this mug up... okay, same thing: 16 ounces or there about.

I'm planning on weighing the salads I make for the week starting this coming Sunday so I can have a better understanding of how much I'm eating. 188 cal for a salad seems a bit low, especially when you consider how much is in there. I'm thinking "a nice handful" of lettuce may not exactly be one serving.

Been away for a little bit, but that's okay. Haven't been keeping up with the food log portion of things, and even though that isn't that good, I was able to see some patterns in my eating habits from that one week anyway: even though I knew I was eating a lot in the evening, I just didn't realize how much. And yeah, even though you're not supposed to go below 1500 calories (least your body starves), I really shouldn't try to pump it up to those levels by eating crap either. As long as I make or keep a mental note on things, it'll be fine.

With that said, I should report that me weight from last Saturday came in at about 277. According to the weekly schedule, I should be at 288. It does seem as if my weight loss is slowing down, and I know I've commented on that in the past, but now that I have my calendar out, I see that I'm only supposed to be losing 3 pounds a week anyway (by June that drops down to 2.5 pounds a week). So apparently I'm on track, and that initial 5 pounds a week thing was simply because of the changing of my eating habits. With that in mind, I should be at 238.5 pounds by time I go to Devils Lake, according to the schedule. Using my current weight at that prescribed weight loss, I'll actually be closer to 223.

Drinking more green tea now. Gawd, how I dislike the taste of green tea. Reminds me of spinach water from a can. *gak* Also upsets my stomach something fierce if I drink too much in one sitting (ie, two mugs). But, I will say that the Green Tea with Mint is okay. Not as good as Plantation Mint (like drinking a candy cane), but not as bad as straight green tea, either.

...

Just read an article on the health benefits and risk of green tea. Benefits are the antioxidants and promotion of weight loss; risks are diarrhea, vomiting, and, umm, upset stomach. That must be why the green tea / mint mix tastes and acts better: mint is good for your stomach. On a side note, since I've started this diet and the drinking of mint tea, I haven't had any bouts or problems with my stomach acid reflux.

...

Okay, now to get back on track. I can tuck my work shirts in without worry about them becoming undone (but I hate tucked in shirts and refuse to tuck them in anyway... never have, never will), and oh look... are those toe tips I see? Hello, toe tips!

From this past Saturday (March 29)... 275 pounds. Had a "screw it" kind of week, attempted to get back on track this weekend. One of my friends, whom I shall refer to as "The Chip Guy", gave me two boxes... BOXES... of the oh so yummy Chili Limon chips. Bastard.

I made it down to 275, but then plateaued (thank goodness for the auto spell check). Got frustrated, said screw it. Don't know what I am back up to, but I am making a third attempt now to lose weight.

This coming Wednesday I have my annual check-up at the VA in Menominee. I'll get a reading as to what my weight is and use that as a base. I could use one of the scales I have, but I'm going to assume that the one the VA has is going to be a little more accurate... if anything, I'll take a base at home and compare that to what the VA says.

My first plan, started a few years back, failed miserably because I was relying too much on outside motivation. I wasn't doing it for myself. This second one, although initially working well, crushed my mind-set with the plateau, that and I relied too heavily on diet without any sort of exercise to go along with it. I wanted to lose weight up to a certain point before I started exercising to make it easier, to put less strain on the body.

Then, over the past couple months, there's been a series of... home changes. I just said screw it, and went back to what I was doing before. But a new realization has set in, a new motivational drive: I'm not going to do this for other people or because of other people, I'm not going to do this "just to see" if I can, but I have more concrete goals in mind. The eventual goal, sadly, will only be known by me; I'm not going to share that simply because it could be used against me. I'm getting too old for mind games or guilt trips or lack of.

Too much? Perhaps... but hey, you gotta take what you can, and use whatever you have to to motivate you, right?

So then, Wednesday afternoon or Thursday day I'll post my long term physical goal is. By that, what I mean is where I expect myself to be at by this time next year. But for now?

Going back to eating salads for lunch. I stopped doing that because people at work here saw that I was still here... and thought I could do this or that for them. That was all rather crappy on their part as they knew I was on lunch, but at the same time I suppose I could have said no. Anyway, I had started to leave during my breaks again, and started getting into the habit of eating at Subway (which is fine, I suppose), but then I'd satisfy a craving for Burger King nuggets or Dairy Queen Burgers (they make excellent burgers!), or see my funds were low so I'd hit Taco Bell. This eating out, although not as bad as it was, was increasing. I would try to steer away from Bell as much as I could, but cheap is cheap.

So yeah, big conscious effort to go back to eating salads for lunch. This week's salads look like this:

I don't expect to measure out a proper serving of salad dressing, but if it was anything like last time, I'm looking at 1.5 to 2 servings. This week, my lunches will be between 71 and 96 calories. I am going to try to do this for all my lunches from here on out, though I may mix up the ingredients a bit; sub celery for the peppers, as an example, or switch dressings. I hear adding rice to one's salad is a good thing as well, might try that.

For beverages, going back to drinking massive amounts of tea and water. I noticed that the more I drank, the more I urinated... the more I urinated, the quicker the weight loss / the more I lost. For some reason I stopped drinking the amount of tea that I was. Went from eight mugs a day down to, maybe, one or two while at work, sometimes not even that. I then went to drinking Gatorade and Poweraid, Fuze, and other bottled teas... just to have something cold. Went to pre-mixed powdered drinks like Tang and ice tea, and started drinking soda again (though not in the extreme that I was). That's got to stop as well, so yeah, back to warm teat or cold water. I'll still be drinking milk though.

Suppers. Suppers are going to be hard. I know from before that I can eat normally for supper, but consuming all those calories in one sitting so late at night, bad. At some point I'm going to have to divide my calories throughout the day, and that's going to have to involve creating new habits... eating regularly. Breakfast? I couldn't even tell you what decade I last ate breakfast. A medium lunch? Need to get back into the salad habit first!

What I can do, and now that I think about it would work wonderfully... when I make my salads for the week, divide those in half; use two smaller bags and place them in one larger bag, that way I have my salad for lunch and dinner already made. When it comes time for supper, make my normal plate, but then divide that in half; eat one half now, the other half take for lunch. Hmm... that might just work!

Anyway, supper has been hard. Gail will make supper, or order something, and I have to eat it. It'd be rude not to eat what everyone else is eating, right? Or there are those times where I would make supper because the youngest hasn't eaten (and for some reason can't feed himself), and he won't eat what I want to or have to, and I hate to make separate meals... but that'll have to change.

So far, the rice / soup / tuna mix with either beans or peas is still a great meal option, but there's some crap about how too much tuna is bad for you, so I'll have to mix this up as well. I'll have to sub chicken or ham (or pork) for tuna, but not always. Just one day chicken, next ham (or pork), next tuna, and just keep repeating that. Thought I had typed on here what that calorie count was? Oh well, I'll take care of that next time. I believe that what I was mixing (one cup white rice, one can tuna, one can condensed soup, one can beans) was around 1000 - 1200 calories. I could be greatly mistaken as well, who knows.

So then, if I stick to those meals (lunch and supper), divide them up, that'll give me about 650 calories per meal; add a breakfast of something... toast, bagel, yogurt, whatever... and I should be good. Add in some fruit or cottage cheese for snacking at night, or just try to eliminate snacking altogether.

Been doing light exercising as of the past couple weeks: walking. I know, pretty lazy stuff right there. Walking, pfft. But I read that you burn 100 calories per every mile walked. Don't know how much I put in at work, but when I get home, I try to walk between two to three miles. Since I'm walking three miles per hour, and the average speed is 3.1 miles per hour, I think I'm doing pretty good.

PLAN > I figure, walk the hour, do it until I can do it without having a burn associated with it, and then I'll add some weights (I have one of those weighted vests). Put on just enough weight so I know it's there, so it adds some difficulty to my breathing, then start back at one mile (go up), add weight, one mile (go up), keep going back and forth with this. Do this until I'm doing the full 50 pounds at three miles. Then there's Goodwill; it's only a mile from work. Twenty minutes there, twenty minutes back, I'll have two miles in each day easily... just need to remember to bring my tennis shoes to work, oh, and a change of shirt too.

I should increase the number of times I walk up and down the stairs here as well. Hell, every little bit helps.

PLAN > Been talking about this for a while, about time I start doing it: attach some tie straps to the garage rafters, or basement rafters, and use my own body weight for exercising. Forget what that type of system is called. I've already got a weight bench downstairs, as well as a treadmill, so if I include this, I'll be set for when winter sets in. This is quick and easy, doesn't involve anything that I don't already have.

PLAN > Basic exercises. Have to start doing this. Have to. Because of my diet attempts, I have already lost my back fat and love handles, need to work on the belly. Diet alone can't do this, so it's time for sit-ups and crunches. Shouldn't be bad, figure what my base is and go from there, adding five or ten sit-ups each week, twice a day (morning / evening). It isn't a matter of timing, it's simply a matter of motivation.

If I can do that... maintain my diet / start proper eating habits, walk regularly, and sit-ups, I think I'll be good as far as losing weight goes, and keeping it off. Add the weight training, and that'll just be a bonus.

According to the VA, I weigh 303 pounds. I have no idea how I managed to lose what, 50 pounds and then gain back 30 in a matter of months, but hey, that's the way of things. At least I now have a base line for my weight loss.

According to the losertown website, at this weight, if I consume 1800 calories a day and don't exercise, I'll be at 216 pounds by this time next year. If I do the salads and tea, along with my rice/soup/beans or peas mix with a can of tune/cup of chicken/cup of ham, I'd be at 216 in mid-March of next year; again, no exercise.

As much as I love the idea of starving myself, I think I'll pass. I'll try to maintain the calorie intake, but that's about it, I'll try. I'm just going to have to incorporate some exercising with all this.

So... at an estimate, walking four miles a day, that'll burn 400 calories a day. If I maintain a diet of 1200 calories and at least walk the four miles a day, I'd be at 216 by the beginning of January.

...

That might be doable. At 1800 calories, still walking 4 miles a day, I'd be at 216 by the end of February.